1. The Myth of the Single Path
Your experience
Have you ever been to a forest clearing?
Under water? To the sea? To the ocean?
To dense marshy forests? The ones they call taiga?
To the mountains? Green with woods or white with glaciers?
To a scorching desert with its seas of sand?
Or do you live in a city and have never left it? It doesn’t matter! For you still can see the city, you’ve been to many of its parts.
Just think of the diversity and abundance you’ve seen!
Of colors and shades.
Of flowers, plants, insects, birds, fish, people, buildings, constructions, creations, etc.
How many species. Thousands, millions. The abundance of diversity! The beauty of abundance!
And yet, there is a harmony in it…
And how many sounds? Poems, verses, songs? Discoveries?
The list could go on and on! We are lost in this abundance of diversity
Don’t you think so?
About the myth
A lot of religions, beliefs, and their prophets claim that the world was created by… God, Allah, Krishna, etc… Think of your own examples and study them thoroughly.
This is a task for you.
Yes, a real task. In some schools, Religious Education is a compulsory subject. Perhaps, you attended one of such schools yourself. But usually it is the study of one religion only.
And if it is some kind of a religious school, then, surely, they teach only one religion. That is why I suggest that you get to know all the options or at least most of them, at the very least – just look them through (though I do recommend some more thorough investigation).
It would be great to attend a school where all religions and beliefs are studied in one and the same careful manner. How about that?
But let us get back to the subject of this chapter and its very beginning.
In this case, we are all able to see and enjoy this abundance of diversity. So, upon what ground could some representative of the humanity get it into their head that there is a single path to God? And moreover, managed to knock it into others (with them happily accepting and agreeing to this!)? Only one?! And it is one and only path that is right and righteous! And what about others? For some reason, they are not. But it’s as if a single flower was announced right, while others or some of them were deemed wrong! Nobody in their senses would apply that to flowers, animals, birds, or fish.
Although, wait a minute. Do you remember anything of the kind? About cats? About black cats in particular? About crows? About pigs? About cows? About rats? Someone did apply that to animals after all… Influenced by their faith and prejudices. Or only by faith? Or only by prejudices? Let alone the path to God… I guess there is nothing wrong (another evaluation) in declaring someone or something sacred or right. Take cows, for example, a source of so much useful stuff for a human. So this approach can really be for the good – if it is used for the sake of protection and sheltering. And yet, the way I see it, we shouldn’t declare someone or something wrong, for this is to the detriment of both the declarer and the declared.
You are not interested in the diversity of flora and fauna? Then think of the diversity of nations and peoples, of cultures and human beings. Each of us is unmatched, unique, and special. What a bizarre combination! Some of us are exquisitely surreal, others – so earthly, so familiar, and dear. How can we deem one culture, nation, or people right and other – wrong? Being of sound mind and memory… Seeing one as better and another as worse? For one thing, they are completely different! And then again, whose point of view are we to take? Of those who push through the idea that benefits them in the hope to acquire a special status or possibilities (or rather, an excuse)? Of those who know it better?
It’s a shame few people consider this possibility: Perhaps, the One who created such a riot of species, forms of life, and civilizations actually had the trouble to provide people with plenty of paths and opportunities to come to Him. So that each of us could find our own path, our own way. But in this case, there have to be plenty of ways. An abundance of ways. An abundance of unique ways.
And yet a lot of people deem one path better than another. Perhaps, it’s their arrogance and the desire to belong to the «chosen», to the «right»? (But how can we talk about freedom in this case?) And what about others? Is there something wrong with them? But how can we be so sure that our path is right and all the others – wrong? How can we be so sure that what I’m saying here is right or wrong? If we deem something right and have an explanation or an excuse for that, the same can be done by others… So how can we tell who is right? Maybe the trick is not in finding out who’s right. Maybe we just need to accept that all the paths have one and the same source and lead us to one and the same home, however differently… And as for what path is right or what nation is better, it is not not up to us. It is up to the one who created it all.
